There is no question about it, pontoon boats are a lot of fun. You would be hard pressed to find someone who has been on one and not had a good time. If you are looking at new pontoon boats to buy, you may have some questions about how to get the best boat for you. Here are some tips to help you get the right boat for your needs.
1. What is your budget? Whenever you make a big purchase like a boat or a car, you need to start with your budget. New pontoon boats are not cheap. The prices range from $25,000 to $50,00. What you should do is go through your finances and see what is the price point that you can live with. The definition of “affordable pontoon boats” is really different for everyone. These prices are not absolute. You can expect to pay more when you add on different options and if you are looking at specialty boats and that sort of thing. Knowing what you can afford to spend will help a lot when you are looking at the different new pontoon boats.
2. What kind of horsepower are you looking for? Most of the cost of the pontoon boat comes from the amount of horsepower. Beware of the specials that are offered at many boat shows. What happens is they sell new pontoon boats for a lot less money than people would expect but then they find that the boats have little power in the water. Think about what you are planning to do with the boat. For instance, if you want to do a lot of fishing, you might be better with triton fishing boats. If you want a boat for your family to get out and take part in water sports, you are going to have to get a pontoon boat with a little more power. When you talk to the pontoon boat dealer talk to them about how fast you are going to want to go. That will give you an idea of the horsepower that you will need.
3. Think about where you are going to store the boat. If you are going to keep the boat at a marina, there are good and bad things about that. If you plan to keep your boat on your driveway, you should know that getting it home is a lot like towing a fifth wheel trailer. You will need a heavy duty vehicle and it will create significant drag on your truck so that you gas mileage will drop to between eight and ten miles to the gallon. This may not have an impact on the decision you make when looking at new pontoon boats but it might. Never lose sight of the fact that you need to store your boat somewhere.
Owning a pontoon boat is a lot like owning a Jayco eagle premier camper, there may be a high upfront cost but it is so much fun. Work through these questions and you will get the boat you really want and can use.
